A Taste of the Blue Mountains

Premium craft ciders that express tradition and place.

Taste where we come from….

Ardiel Dry Cider

Available at an LCBO near you!

473 ml - 6% alcohol

Cider, like art, has its periods of design. In the early days in Europe the more traditional cider styles were very dry, flat, and cask conditioned. Ciders were full bodied, almost bitter and quite high in alcohol, some well over 7% alc./vol. In today’s modern cider revolution, cider makers are experimenting with many different styles. Some are clean, crisp, sparkling dry ciders similar to champagne while others are sweeter and lower in alcohol.

The Ardiel Cider House Dry Cider is “Classic” in style with full bodied cider flavours and a vibrant fresh apple mid palate, ending in a clean, pleasing and refreshingly dry finish. To make the cider unique, Ardiel Cider House practices the age old tradition of winemakers called “back blending”. This is accomplished by adding unfermented fresh apple juice and a small amount of ice cider which balances out the acidity and alcohol and enhances the flavour. The resulting cider is delicious and distinct.

Big John Hop Cider

473 ml - 6.5% Alcohol

For decades, farmers have nicknamed their tractors. At the Ardiel farm, Big John has been hauling apple bins since the early fifties. This hop cider is in recognition of Big John’s years of toil and dedicated service to the Ardiel family.

Big John Hop Cider is unique in style with attractive floral hop aromas; citrus and spice mid palate; ending with tangy tart cider notes. The hop flavours were induced by immersing select North American dry hops for a period of time, just enough to add the complexity of hop flavours and aromatics and yet still maintain the core cider integrity.

Victoria Pear Cider

473 ml - 6.5% Alcohol

Victoria Pear Cider is elegant and delicious with delicate pear flavours that dance on your tongue. This sparkling dry pear cider, traditionally known as Perry, is a fun and refreshing taste experience.

In recognition of the pioneering spirit of women farmers and fruit growers, Victoria Pear Cider epitomizes their creative contribution to the evolution of cider making.

Our Story

It has been almost a century since great grandfather Leonard Ardiel first planted apple trees on the home farm. He was succeeded by grandfather Fred who focused on expanding the orchards. His legacy has been perpetuated by his son John, along with his wife Lynda, and their sons Greg and Liam. They continue to grow the apple business and plant more orchards in the Beaver Valley.

Apple Tradition

Each generation of the Ardiel family has been committed to growing new varieties and adopting new planting techniques with a goal of producing the elusive “perfect orchard”. This propels the family to continue learning and experimenting and adopting new production techniques. Sometimes taking a risk or two with new varieties is necessary as exemplified by the extremely successful Ambrosia, Gala, Fuji, Crispin and Honey Crisp varieties.

Cider Integrity

The Beaver Valley is in the heart of the Blue Mountains and known for its cool northerly climate where orchard farmers have been growing unique varieties of heritage apples for almost a century. These crisp, almost tart, higher acid apples have been the backbone of the apple pie and apple sauce industry and revered as delectable eating apples. More recently these heritage apples have become highly sought after to make traditional styles of dry cider with flavor integrity: Cortland, Ida Red, McIntosh, Russet and Spartan to name a few. The recent cider revolution has led the Ardiel family to preserve and nurture the older apple orchards to ensure Ardiel Cider House continues to produce and craft locally grown distinct and delicious ciders.

Open Year Round 11am – 5pm

Events

We'll be firing up the BBQ and serving our ciders with an assortment of their favourite companions - sausages! Enjoy a glass of Ardiel Cider House Premium Dry Cider or Big John Hop Cider paired with a sausage from the BBQ.

Stay tuned to our Facebook & Instagram pages for more details on the event including an exciting new cider release!